


I'd Fight the World For You

by benjji2795



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Mostly Minor Injuries, Sharing a Bed, hockey fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-21 23:09:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6061621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjji2795/pseuds/benjji2795
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Dex has always known that Derek Nurse is frustrating, combative and pretentious. Nursey was—he bothered the fuck out of Dex, so Dex argued with him, poking at him whenever and however he could. He spent a lot of time ignoring how Nursey could also be thoughtful, witty and above all, disarming. Somehow, while Dex was preoccupied with arguing, Nursey had used those characteristics to easily slip past Dex’s defenses.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'd Fight the World For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silentghosts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentghosts/gifts).



> So this was the other fic I'd mentioned working on in the A/N of _Treacherous_...it took me a month to get over the block I'd run into about halfway through. But I worked furiously the last two days and I finally got it done this afternoon :)
> 
> Thanks to [DaZeli](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DaZeli/pseuds/DaZeli), my beta-er and fellow NurseyDex trash <3

Yale was known for playing tough, physical, hard-fought games. Games that were full of hard hits and many, many borderline checks. Jack and Bitty’d had at least two extra checking practices (something that was by now an open secret among the team) that Dex knew of. Additionally, Yale was only a game and a half behind Samwell for first place in the ECAC, so there was a lot on the line at this game.

 

In spite of everything they’d anticipated, the game had ended up routine, as much as a hockey game can be, for two and a half periods. They’re up 2-0, thirteen minutes left, and Chowder is on absolute lockdown in between the posts. Nothing is getting through for Yale, and the frustration is beginning to clearly show. The hits get harder and more questionable, and the officials are struggling to keep up. For every illegal and overly rough check they were catching, they were missing at least two.

 

He and Nursey are faster than most of Yale’s defensemen, and they’re mostly unscathed, but busy returning as many of Yale’s illegal checks with legal ones of their own. Dex is mostly keeping his temper under control, channeling as much of his anger into his retaliation hits, but he’s still close to boiling over.

 

Still up 2-0 with just under four minutes to go, their luck runs out. Yale’s third line comes onto the ice, and they have a literal goon on that line that is somehow also very fast. It’s clear from the get-go that he has his sights set on Nursey and Dex—he’s on the other side of the ice. Dex spots the way the guy’s weight shifts, sees Nursey chasing after the puck, and takes off after the goon as fast as his skates will carry him.

 

“Nursey!” Dex shouts, because he’s not sure that he can get there in time to cut the other guy off. Nursey’s head snaps up, but the defenseman is in Nursey’s blind spot. By the time Nursey gets his head around to see where the guy is, he’s being slammed into the boards with a loud crash. He crumples, going flying up into the air and lands on the ice with a harsh thud.

 

In an instant, Dex sees red. Maybe he wasn’t in position to protect his partner from the hit, but he’s sure as hell in a position to avenge it. Fighting is banned in college and he’ll be ejected, maybe even suspended from future games. But nobody goes after his partner like that. _Nobody_.

 

His gloves come off, skittering across the ice as he tackles the defenseman. His fists are flying, landing as many punches on him as he can before he’s pulled away. It’s clear he did it on purpose and he’s going to pay for it the way Nursey did.

 

He gets a few good hits in before Ransom and Holster are grabbing his arms, pulling him up and dragging him away.

 

“That’s what you get for messing with _my_ partner!” Dex screams, not only as a warning to the defenseman, but to anyone else in the ECAC who thinks about messing with Nursey. He’s grinning smugly, because he can clearly see the bruise beginning to blossom under the other guy’s eye and the blood dripping from his clearly broken nose.

 

The defender reaches up and wipes off his upper lip, eyes narrowing when he sees the blood trickling down the back of his hand. His teammates rush over to hold him back, and out of the corner of his eye, Dex can see the head referee signaling an ejection for both of them. He nods at the referee, sneers and flips the defender off, and then disappears down the tunnel, into the locker room, without protest.

 

He plops down on the bench, peeling off layer after layer of gear, wincing as he examined his bruises, results of hits he’d absorbed over the course of the game. Only once he’s down to the clothes he was wearing underneath his pads does it start to dawn on him, the realization making his chest feel tight.

 

_What the fuck did he just do?_

 

Nursey had taken a blindside check, and seeing him sprawled out on the ice had trigged Dex, drawing out a severe emotional reaction that lead to him flailing his fists without thinking. He hadn’t been that angry in a long time—up until then, Dex wasn’t sure he could even get that furious anymore. Obviously he still can, and he reacts just the same as he used to; he didn’t stop to think, he didn’t stop to check if Nursey was really that badly hurt, he just…started throwing punches.

 

Dex rubs at his face harshly, wincing when his cheek stings at the contact. He’d been so caught up in the fight, lost in the blur of bright red fury and flying fists he hadn’t taken care to try and avoid anything the other guy threw at him. The whole fight lasted less than a minute, and yet he doesn’t remember any of it, whole ordeal swallowed up and erased by a raging sea of anger.

 

Dex’s own motives for reacting so strongly aren’t even known to him. He fought to defend Nursey, but he didn’t have to _fight_ to defend him. If it had been Jack, Bitty, Chowder, or anyone else, retaliation would’ve come in the form of a hard, legal check and a few choice words as he skated past. They’re all as much his friends as Nursey is, but this—it was intensely personal to Dex. It was about messing with _his_ partner, which— ** _shit_**.

 

His last fight on the ice took place back during his sophomore year of high school, when one of his younger brothers, Pat, briefly decided to take up hockey for a season. They had been paired up as defensemen, and they were damn good at it too. But Pat was smaller than most other defensemen, and that put a target square on his back. Dex had gotten into three fights that year, all for the purpose of defending Pat from the guys who were targeting him.

 

It’s also, coincidentally, why Pat had only played one season of hockey. They’d ended up fighting each other over Dex’s behavior. Pat didn’t want Dex risking his own playing future to protect him, and he didn’t need Dex’s help anyway, he could take care of himself. They’d spent three weeks glaring at each other before Dex realized that Pat was right.

 

It’s a meaningful pattern to Dex. If he cares about Nursey enough to get into a fight for him, then he cares about him at least as much as he cares about Pat. Dex has never been good at keeping his cool when other people think they can target the ones he cares about. It’s his emotional attachment to Nursey that drove his reaction. There are lots of different kinds of emotional attachments, but the most obvious one for Dex is—well, could be really, really bad, _fuck_.

 

Derek limps by with the trainer, catching Dex’s eye and pulling him out of his panicked thoughts. He jumps up and follows them into the trainer’s office.

 

“You really need to fucking chill,” Derek says sharply as he’s helped onto the trainer’s table. He’s grimacing and breathing heavily, and once he’s sitting, his legs hang stock still off the edge. “That was fucking stupid,” he continues. “You’re gonna get suspended by the conference, and I’m not even—”

 

Nursey sucks in a harsh breath, features screwing up in a clear indication of pain when the trainer’s hand barely grazes his ankle.

 

“You were saying?” Dex replies, raising an eyebrow challengingly at Nursey.

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Nursey gasps, clenching his eyes shut as she continues to probe at his ankle.

 

“The guy fucking blind-sided you. To the hell with how I was supposed to handle it! The officials were letting them get away with all kinds of dirty shit, and I wasn’t taking a chance of that happening with that hit,” Dex explains, leaning up against the table next to Nursey.

 

“He was ejected too,” Nursey answers. “Saw it as I was being helped up.”

 

“I know, I saw it too. Served the bastard right,” Dex grins.

 

“Well Mr. Nurse,” the trainer begins while there’s a pause in their conversation. “It’s hard to say anything definitive without x-rays, but it looks like a textbook high ankle sprain. Most likely scenario, you’re out for a week or two. There’s still a chance that it could be worse, so I’m going have you go to the hospital tonight to get x-rays to check for a fracture and an MRI to check for tendon and ligament damage. If it’s any worse, you’ll probably be out until next season.”

 

_“Son of a bitch,”_ Nursey mutters, forcefully punching the tabletop. “Okay I take it back, you were probably justified in not being chill.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Dex smirks, gently knocking into Nursey’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah, thanks. But now the team’s down _two_ d-men for at least a week instead of just one, so you’re still a moron.”

 

“Noted,” Dex says, laughing softly.

 

“You think Jack’s going to go ballistic about your ejection?” Nursey asks casually.

 

“I—I don’t know,” Dex shrugs. “I think he was pretty pissed off at the officials for the way the game was being called, and I did it to have your back so—maybe he won’t be.”

 

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Nursey chuckles, punching Dex lightly in the shoulder.

 

“Yeaaaahhhh, I’m really not either,” Dex groans, pinching the bridge of his nose and recoiling slightly when the action sends a jolt of pain through his head.

 

“Derek Nurse?” a man says, appearing suddenly in the doorway.

 

“Yeah, that’s me,” Nursey replies.

 

“The ambulance is here for you,” he says, walking over to the table to help Nursey up.

 

“Ambulance?” Dex asks, because he’s not hurt that badly, why the fuck does he need an ambulance?

 

“Yeah, I have to get x-rays, remember dumbass?” Nursey retorts. “The ambulance is just my ride.”

 

“Oh, cool bro. I guess…let me know when you’re going to be back,” Dex shrugs, aiming a nonchalant tone and hitting awkwardly stiff instead. Nursey is helped up, and he tells the guy to stop. He turns around and eyes Dex suspiciously.

 

“Yeah, alright,” Nursey acknowledges tiredly after a moment, signaling to the man to help him out.

 

“And—and don’t be out for more than a week, you fucker!” Dex adds quickly before Nursey is out the door. “I’m going to kill you if you leave me to play with anyone else!”

 

“Okay man, I’ll see what I can do,” Nursey chortles, sounding somewhat fond. Dex walks out of the trainer’s office, listening as the sound echoes through the empty hallway. It makes the tightness in his chest begin to melt away, leaving a warm fuzzy feeling in its place. Nursey turns a corner, going out of sight, and so Dex shuffles back into the locker room, slumping down in his cubby.

 

In Dex’s mind, that exchange seals the deal. It’s not hard for Dex to put the pieces together, because a) he only fights for people he cares about and he fought for Nursey, and b) the warmth he felt in his chest from Nursey’s fond chuckling is not a very bro-like feeling.

 

Dex has always known that Derek Nurse is frustrating, combative and pretentious. Nursey was—he bothered the fuck out of Dex, so Dex argued with him, poking at him whenever and however he could. He spent a lot of time ignoring how Nursey could also be thoughtful, witty and above all, disarming. Somehow, while Dex was preoccupied with arguing, Nursey had used those characteristics to easily slip past Dex’s defenses.

 

His defenses are there for a very good reason. Dex works hard to keep them up, to keep boys at arm’s length away; to protect himself, to keep from crushing on anyone would might be meaningful to him. He’d tried with Nursey. He’d tried harder than maybe he had with anyone else before, but Nursey pushed. He’d pushed, but he’d done it slowly, subtly, so that Dex didn’t even notice he was doing it. And now, as he was just realizing what Nursey had been doing, it was too late for Dex to do anything about it.

 

Because William Poindexter already has a big, fat crush on Derek Nurse.

 

“I am _so_ fucked,” he mutters. He has a crush on his on-ice partner, the boy he has to put up with and play with for another three and a half years. Three and a half years that he won’t be able to escape Nursey, something that will only serve to make his crush worse.

 

Metallic clinking of skates comes rattling down the hallway, filtering into the locker room and alerting Dex that the game is over. He sits up, sighing and running a hand through his hair as he prepares himself for the verbal lashing he expects to receive.

 

Ransom and Holster are in the locker room first, and they immediately make a beeline for him.

 

“You did good bro,” Ransom says, patting his shoulder gently.

 

“Yeah, way to stick up for your fellow d-man,” Holster continues, adding a smack to his other shoulder.

 

“Thanks,” Dex murmurs, his face flushing because that’s just what his face does 90% of the time.

 

“How is he?” Bitty asks concernedly, immediately coming up behind Ransom and Holster.

 

“Trainer says it’s probably just a high ankle sprain, but I don’t know for sure, it could’ve gotten really fucked up. He _was_ in a lot of pain,” Dex answers. “But they were taking him to the hospital to check it out for sure.”

 

“Fuck man,” Shitty shakes his head, appearing over Bitty’s shoulder. “A blind-side hit! I mean, brah, that’s really fucking shitty! I hope that motherfucker gets suspended.”

 

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the locker at the same time Dex notices Jack making his way towards them. He gulps and white-knuckles the bench, steeling himself.

 

Jack, seeing his determined expression, shrugs. “It was a messy game, eh? I’m not going to blame you for making sure someone had your partner’s back, since it seemed like we couldn’t really count on the officials for that. Just—next time, kept it a little more—legal, eh?”

 

“Alright Jack, I will,” Dex replies, though he’s not sure whether he can guarantee that or not. He’s always been terrible at keeping a lid on his emotions. Jack nods and walks back to his locker.

 

“So who’s ready for a motherfuckin’ victory kegster?” Shitty shouts, and the majority of the team cheers in reply.

 

Dex immediately shakes his head. “I think I’ll just go back to my room and wait for Nursey.”

 

“Keep us posted about him, y’hear?” Bitty says, cutting off the beginning of Shitty’s protest.

 

“Yeah, of course I will Bitty,” Dex answers quietly. Since he’s already out of his pads, Dex decides to go. He waves at the guys before shoving his hands in his pockets, slowly shuffling out of Faber.

 

He’s made it about halfway to their dorm building when his phone rings. Dex quickly answers it.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Dexy, hey!” Nursey replies, his words slurring together slightly.

 

“Nursey, what’s up, what’s the verdict?” Dex asks, already beginning to feel a blush creeping up his neck at the nickname.

 

“’S just a sprain, bro,” Nursey says, and Dex exhales in relief.

 

“Thank God,” he sighs. “Have they released you yet?”

 

“Yep,” Derek says, popping the ‘p’ and then giggling. “Got a boot, crutches and drugs, so I’m all set.”

 

They had given him painkillers, right, that explains why Nursey sounds like he’s drunk off his ass.

 

“I’ll be waiting outside the dorms for you,” Dex says, biting his lip nervously. As much as he thinks it’s a bad idea for him to look after Nursey for the night, given Nursey’s current state, someone _has_ to do it. And with everyone else at the Haus for the kegster, that leaves Dex as the only candidate.

 

“I’m getting in the Uber now. See ya when I get there, Dexy—buddy,” Nursey responds, and then hangs up.

 

Dex shakes his head, trying to fight off the warm feeling rising in his chest again. Nursey was just off because of the painkillers, because Nursey never calls him Dexy or buddy. They’re not in nickname territory, they’re not buddies; they’re just _barely_ friends.

 

Dex had worked really hard to keep it that way but—it seems pretty pointless now. The whole point was to keep from crushing on Nursey, and it’d happened anyway. _Maybe it’s time to stop working so hard to keep my walls up_ , Dex thinks.

 

He exhales softly, texting the team as he walks the rest of the way to their dorm. When he’s there, he sits down on the steps outside the entrance, waiting until a car pulls up. When the door opens and he sees Nursey, Dex quickly scurries over to help him out. Nursey is ridiculously clumsy when he’s on his own two feet; adding crutches and a giant boot is only going to serve to make it worse.

 

“Dexy!” Nursey shouts, smiling broadly, its sheer brilliance punching the air of Dex’s lungs.

 

“L-let’s get inside. It’s cold out,” Dex responds. It’s quite warm for a normal Massachusetts evening in late October, but he needs Nursey to get into bed and fall asleep soon, so he has a chance to figure out how the hell he’s going to deal with his dumb crush.

 

Nursey shrugs in response, his shoulders taking his crutches with them. He’s leaning on them heavily for balance, with his other foot held gingerly above the ground, so it’s no surprise he topples over, falling into Dex. Dex wraps his arms around Nursey, securely holding him up.

 

“Nursey you clumsy fucker, you and crutches are going to be a disaster,” Dex mumbles, keeping Nursey upright while he fumbles to get his crutches back underneath him, supporting his weight. In the meantime, Dex is not thinking about how Nursey’s face is practically pressing into the crook of his neck, how warm and solid the line of his shoulders feels against his chest, or how his puffs of breath are making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

 

“Tha’s what I have you for, right?” Nursey says, grinning and pulling away so he’s standing on his own again.

 

“Oh sure, lucky me,” Dex huffs, but he’s grinning right back and his cheeks are beginning to flush; there’s no real heat to his sarcastic response. “Now really, c’mon, let’s get inside,” he urges.

 

Nursey nods this time, and Dex slowly leads him inside, up to his room. He helps Nursey get dressed for bed, resolutely keeping his eyes from wandering as Nursey takes his pants off and changes his shirt. His eyes are drooping half-shut when he asks:

 

“Wait, isn’t—isn’t there a kegster?”

 

“Uh-huh,” Dex hums, somewhat condescendingly, because there’s a kegster after every game. Even high on pain pills, Nursey should be able to remember that.

 

“Then—,” Nursey pauses and scrunches up his face in indication of deep, concentrated thought. Half of Dex is telling him that it looks adorable, the other half is telling the first half to shut up because ‘he’s your hockey partner, you can’t act on your crush dammit!’ “—why are you here?” Nursey finally finishes his sentence after a long moment.

 

“I uh, d-drew the short straw,” Dex stutters as he lies, though he’s not sure why admitting that he volunteered to look after him would be some kind of indication to Nursey about his crush.

 

“Team’s never drawn straws on anything before,” Nursey yawns as he stretches out towards his pillow.

 

“Well, we did this time,” Dex maintains, because Nursey is probably already half-asleep and won’t argue with him. “Now go to sleep.”

 

“Okay fine, _mom_ ,” Derek sighs sleepily. Dex swats at him and Nursey giggles before yawning again, his eyes fluttering shut. “Thanks Dexy…you know, for everything you did tonight,” he says, and then he’s asleep, snoring lightly.

 

“You’re welcome,” Dex replies with a fond, lopsided grin. He watches Nursey sleep for a while. At some point, he reaches over and brushes one of Nursey’s dark curls off his forehead—oh _Jesus_ , he’s so screwed.

 

Belatedly, he realizes that Nursey’s room doesn’t really have any place for him to lie down and sleep. He’s not leaving Nursey here alone, so he sighs, feeling his way around in the darkness for Nursey’s dresser. He finds it—by stubbing his toe on the corner.

 

“Fuck!” he hisses, and Nursey bolts up.

 

“Wha—what are you doing?” Nursey asks blearily.

 

“Just—grabbing a sweatshirt to use as a pillow,” he explains. The floor will be okay, as long as he has something to rest his head on.

 

Nursey shoots him a withering glare. “Don’t you dare sleep on the floor.”

 

“Really Nursey, it’s fine,” Dex responds.

 

“C’mon, bed,” Nursey commands.

 

Dex shakes his head; nope, no way in _hell_ he’s getting in the same bed as the guy he’s just today realized he has a huge crush on.

 

“Dexy, please,” Nursey whines, and _shit_ , it’s like he never had any resolve to resist from the very start.

 

“Fine, you persistent asshole,” Dex grumbles, because how _dare_ Nursey use Dex’s crush that he doesn’t even know Dex has against him.

 

Nursey scoots over, pressing up against the wall to make space. Dex strips off his pants first, and then gingerly climbs onto the bed and slips under the covers. No sooner has he done so than Nursey drapes all over him, and he freezes. The sensation feels like it’s not unlike how Holster describes Ransom’s octopus tendencies.

 

“What—” Dex starts to say.

 

“Shhh. Small bed,” Nursey mumbles into his shoulder.

 

Dex clamps his jaw shut. It’s true, dorm beds are tiny, and they’re both large in stature, meaning there isn’t enough space for them to sleep side by side. Anyway, Nursey is like, the perfect substitute/replacement for the giant mountain of blanket Dex normally sleeps under. Dex exhales, relaxing into the bed and Nursey as he breathes out his tension. He falls asleep in a matter of minutes.

* * *

 

Dex stirs from sleep slowly, and his first thought is about the way Nursey is still wrapped around him. His face is pressed firmly into Dex’s shoulder blade, his arms are looped around Dex’s stomach, and his leg that isn’t wearing a boot is tangled up with Dex’s. _Oh God_ , he’s an absolute idiot. He should’ve never agreed to climb into bed with Nursey. Maybe some people could separate their feelings from actions like this (*ahem* Ransom and Holster—seriously, Dex knows he’s picking up some very not bro-ly emotions from both of them), but Dex knows he’ll never be able to.

 

Last night, Nursey was high and injured. He invited Dex to share the bed because he didn’t want Dex to sleep on the floor, and too high to remember that sharing a bed wasn’t a thing they did.

 

“Stop thinking so loud,” Nursey murmurs, tightening his arms around Dex’s stomach like it’s no big deal.

 

“Sorry,” Dex replies, his face flushing brightly because of the action. “H-how’s your ankle?” he adds after a minute, willing himself to be casual and—well, _chill_ about this.

 

“Hurts,” Nursey grunts.

 

“Want something for it? Doctor gave you some painkillers,” Dex points out.

 

“No,” Nursey answers, and Dex feels the way his face scrunches up against his shoulder. “Don’t want prescription stuff. Might do something stupid.”

 

Dex takes a minute to consider what Nursey might consider “something stupid”. It’s a question that’s shortly answered, because Nursey groans and rolls off of Dex. “Like I’m doing right now,” he sighs. “Sorry Dex.”

 

“It’s—there’s—don’t apologize,” Dex splutters, startled by the sudden loss of contact and heat. “It’s fine.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Uncomfortable silence settles over them. Dex doesn’t know what’s going on or what to say, so he waits for Nursey to say something. But Nursey doesn’t say anything for a long time, and Dex thinks that they’re probably in a stand-off, waiting for the other to talk first. Rather than say something and be wrong or make it worse, Dex decides he might as well just leave. He’ll send Bitty or Chowder over in his place. He just can’t stand the tension that he feels and the unease that’s now coming in between them.

 

He sits up, but Nursey gently puts a hand on his shoulder. “Dex, I’m sorry I made it weird.”

 

Dex snorts and shakes his head, because if anyone’s made it weird, it’s him, not Nursey. “You didn’t make it weird, I probably did.”

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Nursey protests as Dex starts to stand up.

 

“Yeah I did, the moment I started crushing on you,” Dex replies, and he realizes a fraction of a second too late that the words have slipped out .

 

“What?” Nursey croaks, his eyes as wide as saucers as he stares up at Dex.

 

“Can—can we pretend I didn’t just say that?” Dex sighs. This will probably be ugly, and he just really doesn’t want to deal with this right now.

 

“You have a crush on me?”

 

“Isn’t that what I said?” Dex snaps, because of course Nursey has to push. Nursey always pushes him, no matter the situation. “And I get that it’s creepy or whatever, but I promise I won’t do anything weird. You don’t have to worry about it, I’ll get over it eventually.”

 

Nursey looks positively shell-shocked at the admission. _Jesus Christ_ , when is Dex going to learn to just keep his mouth _shut_?

 

“I’m sorry. I’m just going to go,” Dex says quietly. He’s about to walk away when Nursey grabs his hand and reels him back towards the bed.

 

“Did you mean what you said?” Nursey inquires, looking up at Dex starry-eyed and— _hopeful_?

 

“Yeah of course I do,” Dex answers, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “You should know me well enough by now to know I wouldn’t make that kind of thing up.”

 

“But I thought you were—”

 

“I never once said I was,” Dex shrugs, feeling a grin forming on his face. He knows where Nursey’s going with this. “I’ve never like actually come out, but I’ve never said that I was straight and if Shitty were here, he’d totally lecture you about heteronormativity for assuming so.”

 

Nursey barks out a startled laugh, smiling like a little boy on Christmas. It’s cute, and Dex feels the hearts in his eyes. “I didn’t think you actually paid attention to Shitty’s lectures,” Nursey says.

 

“What is it with all these assumption you’ve made about me?”

 

“It’s just the vibe you give off bro,” Nursey explains with a shrug.

 

“Well, maybe this should serve as a lesson to stop judging people by their ‘vibe’,” Dex retorts argumentatively. They’re arguing, because that’s what they do, but it’s light and playful now, and it’s a nice change from the usual.

 

“I guess you’re right Poindexter,” Nursey smirks.

 

Dex laughs. “Oh my God, say that again! No, no, wait until I have my phone out! I have to record this! Derek Nurse admitting that I, William Poindexter was r— _mmph_!”

 

He’s interrupted by Nursey grabbing a fistful of his shirt, pulling him down, and kissing him quiet. It’s not a long kiss, only a few seconds, but by the time Nursey pulls away, Dex’s face is already red as a tomato.

 

“What I said—it never leaves this room,” Nursey says, mock threateningly, still holding onto Dex’s shirt.

 

“I m-make no p-promises,” Dex stutters, off-balance because _wow_ , Nursey just kissed him. Nursey surges up and kisses him again and okay, it’s not normal for the room to feel like it’s spinning, but Dex likes it.

 

“What about now?” Nursey questions, licking his lips as he looks Dex in the eye.

 

Dex swallows thickly. “I—I could m-maybe use a little more—persuading,” Dex replies. His face goes hot over the fact that he just made that implication, but Nursey has a filthy smirk on his face.

 

“I think I can manage that,” he says as he yanks Dex down onto the bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I know they probably wouldn't give him prescription painkillers for a high ankle sprain but shhhh, I needed that detail for this to work :)
> 
> Also I plead for forgiveness for giving Dex's brother such a stereotypical Irish name :P


End file.
